This is a strange weird spot of this season/year of forever training. week 12 is underway, leading up to the big daddy, Ironman Canada in Penticton on August 29th. i've got a whole 12 weeks left to go, and i'm not yet plugged into my all out panic mode, that'll come soon enuff, now it's just, 'oh my god do i ever need to train!'
this past weekend was just another part of the training, maybe. it was a weekend of some of the hardest riding i've ever done, well that i can remember, well, right now.
but rode just in and around Drumheller with other members of the edmonton tri club, which, hopefully helped build me up, leading me up to the my 1st Tri of the year, the Coronation Triathlon this Sunday, that should get me up and fit for the 200Km Ride to Conquer Cancer on June 26th and 27th, which is the week before the Great White North 1/2 Ironman Tri, which of course leads onward and upward to Ironman.
The past 6 or 7 dayz is why i love doing this, and what i want this stuff to always be all about. It's about the fun, the hard work with friends, the stuff that happens between the training, during the training and after. okay, so maybe it's not always laugh out loud fun, but enjoyable, yep, and it all feels so good, afterwards..and sometimes during. and hell, while humming your fave windy song (against the wind, stormbringer, dust in the wind, ride like the wind, whatever) you can always look forward to whatever comes next..like, well, another hill, more wind...or a steak dinner afterwards!
There was nothin' i didn't like about the weekend in the home of the world largest dinosaur. even though the weather didn't always co-operate, it teased us, and toyed with us, and the undulating hills were amazingly, toying? every day something amazing happened. the 1st day of riding started out great, even with that 1st hill that eventually took us to downtown rosebud ..and then, well, it got windy, and coldish, and did i say windy. i only rode about 98K of the 107-ish, i'd volunteered to drive one of the support vans, which was cool too. i actually liked the break, and it was interesting to support, and watch how the other riders rode. and, oh, it was warm.....and so comfortable.
day 2 started freakishly kinda the same-ish. there was that moment at the beginning with a lot of sun, no wind, some side wind, some back-ish wind, a small hill, and then again, we took a turn for the worse, and wow, big wind, big hill, and it never stopped. it's kind of weird to be riding downhill and having to peddle just to move, down that hill.
the one common element to both dayz was i was trying to catch roommate mike's back wheel. i'm not used to that. usually when i'm riding with steve and the gang, i take off....finally, someone else leading, how the f*ck he kept pulling away into the wind beats me, but it gave me a challenge. which is just what i've always needed.
actually that was the best thing about the weekend on the road, a group of iron people where i had to push just to keep up, and i learned so much about riding with others, flowing through a pace line, and also learning how much fun this stuff can be. and riding with some that have done this a lot longer then i have taught me so much. just how to ride, how to ride in a group, how to support, and just learning what can be ridden through. man, that constant wind, even on day 2, before and after lunch in downtown delia, was tough. but it was so do-able, and you know what, even though it only meant riding about 75K (yep, i drove support yet again) the 2 days made last year's ride in Penticton seem easy. and lunch in the senior's centre in delia was an amazing deal, thanx christine!...and now i know where delia, dorothy, and rosebud are...wow! i feel so fulfilled.
we lucked out for day 3, our final ride before heading home, we, well i chose to go to dorothy, i could have gone on with the 100k people to some point beyond. but seriously i was tired, my bum hurt, and about 70K felt like a good thing to do. it was so nice to ride in sunshine, really no headwind, and what wind there was, blew on our backs as we all rode home, quickly. i loved it, loved it. in aero most of the way, counting off the locations and towns on the way back (hello rosedale!), i actually considered the hill that we started up on saturday for a little diversion, but nah, i needed to get home. yep, loved every minute of it!
and yesterday was the flip side of that. felt like crap this morning, i knew i needed to get a hard swim in, and knew that i wanted to get the bike back out for an easy spin, but ewww, that bed was calling me back. but as usual, once i dived into those waters in the kinsmen pool and started my dayz training, it was hard to stop, and after 3800 meters, and 90 minutes later i was done. and it just kept getting better. then i just finished the morning off spunning around the U of A area, through the ramsey ravine, through the alexander circle, up groat road south, around sask drive for about an hour. and it felt good. my legs were still tired, but with the coronation tri coming up, again, it's just what i needed.
same thing with the swim. here i was worried if i'd be able to handle a 1000 meter swim and a 26k ride....well, 3800 meters, and a relaxing 20K ride
then this morning, went out for a short-ish 12K run, that just felt so good to do. i seriously don't run often enuff, and i need to do that way more often. not just because i have to, to get ready for my upcoming races, but just because i luv to run. it just feels so good. this morning, back to the ramsey ravine i peddled up on wednesday, up groat road north, visiting a few neighbourhoods, up vic park hill, over the high level bridge, along sask drive....didn't really care how far i was going...the head and body just said let's run, and i just ran.
and well, though i was worried, i'm not so worried any more...about coronation, the great white north, or ultimately, Ironman...bring it on!
now, relaxing here, watching (or-rewatching the lost finale) feels so perfect. i'm not sure what's up with 2morrow. i 'm supposed to rest, but, well i could do a short 30 min run (maybe) a short 1000 meter swim (possibly) or an hour ride.....but whatever, even if i just rest, it'll all still feel so good. onward and upward.
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